Form may famously be temporary, but add a touch of extra quality and it counts for plenty. The confidence Gloucester took into the final of the Anglo-Welsh Cup on the back of 10 successive wins was apparent from the start, and while the Cherry and Whites were not perfect – it took an hour for the much vaunted back division to produce a move really worthy of the occasion – they were much too good for a brave but ultimately outclassed Newcastle side.

Whether qualification for the Heineken Cup means more than the ending of the club's reputation for choking in finals will no doubt have been a subject for pleasant debate in many a pub in the West Country city after this match . The celebrations on the pitch were certainly heartfelt, and the fly-half Nicky Robinson, who will be playing for Wasps next season, acknowledged the primary emotion was relief.

"It's a massive win, because the club deserves silverware and the supporters do too," he said. "We knew we were kind of favourites, but after the way they played in the semi-final, we also knew that Newcastle would put up a tough, tough fight. The squad really performed today."

It took Gloucester less than seven minutes to go ahead, and the ease with which the try came must have made the Falcons' coaching staff twitch. The Gloucester pack pulled in the defence with a drive down the blind side before the ball was spun to the open side for the left wing Tom Voyce to step inside Luke Fielden and the full-back Alex Tait, and score.

Nicky Robinson converted from the touchline, but the Falcons were not about to panic. Their problem was not so much retaining possession as winning good quality ball in the first place, and after Robinson had stretched Gloucester's lead with a penalty from in front of the posts, Jimmy Gopperth's decision to take on a 50‑yard attempt was possibly the result of an early sense of desperation.

Newcastle's aggressive tackling was making the game increasingly scrappy, though, and Gloucester's frustration saw them give away a far more kickable penalty. Once again Gopperth pulled it wide, but the New Zealander excelled defensively soon afterwards with a last‑man tackle on Charlie Sharples after the Gloucester wing was sent clear by Robinson's fine pass.

Whatever the coach, Bryan Redpath, said at half-time had no immediate impact. Gloucester produced a series of sloppy errors in the first few minutes of the second half to cough up possession until Robinson brought a little order to proceedings by kicking a penalty for offside. Shortly before the hour, however, Gloucester produced a really incisive move. It was finished by Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu but the interplay and sharp handling, twice involving Robinson, was an indication of Gloucester's capabilities.

Finally Newcastle heads went down, and with 15 minutes left Voyce and Freddie Burns released Sharples on the right to remove any lingering doubt. Luke Eves went over from close range to break the Falcons' duck, but Gloucester had the final word with a driving maul that ended with Darren Dawidiuk scoring.

The Newcastle captain, James Hudson, had no complaints. "The scoreline is a completely fair reflection of the game," he said. "They played really well, they stretched us, we defended well for a while but made some fundamental errors to gift them field position too often. We've enjoyed the competition, but the performance hurts a little bit."